Tent supporting frame



March 24, 1970 J. R. CORBIN TENT SUPPORTING FRAME 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 FiledSept. 12. 1968 FIG.2

March 24, 1970 J. R. CORBIN 3,502,091

TENT SUPPORTING FRAME Filed Sept. 12. 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 March 24,1970 J. RiCORBlN 3,502,091

TENT SUPPORTING FRAME Filed Sept. 12, 1968 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 FIG. 7

United States Patent 3,502,091 TENT SUPPORTING FRAME John R. Corbin,Cherry Hill, N.J., assignor to Wendel V. Goltermann, Reutlinger,Wurttemberg, Germany, a

corporation of Germany Filed Sept. 12, 1968, Ser. No. 759,304 Int. Cl.A45f 1/16 U.S. Cl. 135--4 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Asupporting structure for a tent or the like having a dome-like rooftruss formed by a lurality of ridge struts radiating from a common huband a plurality of triangular side struts for supporting the ridgetruss. Eave struts between the ends of the ridge struts and selectedtriangular side struts are made unnecessaryand are eliminated by drawingthe ridge struts, forming the roof truss, rigid by means of a cabletruss at the hub. The cable truss includes first cables extendingbetween adjacent ridge struts and second cables extending between theridge struts and the upper end of an extendible compression rodextending above the hub. A similar roof truss may be supported in acantilever manner from a main tent and held in place by an overheadcable attached to the common hub of the truss to provide an auxiliarytent utilizing no side supporting truss.

SUMMARY AND OBJECTS OF INVENTION The present invention relates generallyto a light-weight and compact framework for a tent or the like, andspecifically to a tent framework which provides maximum volume and is,as well, made compact by employing a minimum number of rigid supportingmembers.

The very nature of a tent demands that it be light-weight and compact inorder that the tent may be easily transported to the site of its use. Tosatisfy such criteria, the rigid framework employed in the tent must beof the type which can be folded into a relatively small package fortransporting from one place to another. As would be expected, the fewernumber of rigid supporting elements employed in the supporting structureof the tent, the lighter and more portable the tent will be. However, asa general rule, tents which employ a small number of rigid supportingelements do not have satisfactory headroom or overall internal volumewhen set up. Thus, a real problem exists in providing a tent withacceptable strength and volume which does not utilize an unacceptablenumber of rigid supporting members.

One such tent available today which suffers from the foregoing problemis a tent of dome-like configuration which employs a structuralframework composed of a plurality of triangles joined at a common apexforming a roof truss which is supported by a plurality of triangularside trusses. A five sided tent of this nature uses ridge struts and 5eave struts in the triangles which form the dome-like roof truss.Additionally, this type of tent employs side struts which make up thetriangular side trusses for supporting the dome-like roof truss. Thus,in all, such struts must be employed in a supporting framework for a 5sided dome-like structure of this nature.

Accordingly, while the dome-like tent provides superior volume and headroom, the necessary number of rigid supporting elements found necessaryhave, to date, made this tent design unacceptable.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide asupporting tent structure of the dome-like type which employs a rooftruss so designed as to eliminate the necessity for all eave struts andto further eliminate the need for a side truss at every point.

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It is a further object of the present invention to provide a supportingstructure for an auxiliary tent which is carried entirely by a main tentand which does not employ any ground engaging side supporting structure.

In one form of the present invention, the roof truss is formed of aplurality of ridge struts which are pivotally connected at a common hubin order that they may be compactly folded parallel to one anotherwhenever the tent is disassembled and, during assembly thereof, expandedto extend radially and downwardly from the hub to define a dome-likeroof truss. The ridge struts are held rigidly in respect to one anotherto form the rigid roof truss by means of a cable truss disposed at thecommon hub. The cable truss, in general, includes tension cables betweenadjacent ridge struts and a plurality of cables extending from anextendible rod above the hub to each of the ridge struts. The extendiblerod, when extended above the common hub, will expand the ridge strutsuntil they pull the cables taut thus forming a rigid roof truss withoutthe use of eave struts. Inasmuch as the roof truss is rigid withinitself, it need not be supported at all of the ridge struts.

In another aspect of the invention, a similarly constructed roof trussmay form an auxiliary tent supporting structure which utilizes no groundengaging side trusses of its own. The roof truss made rigid by the cabletruss, as above described, is attached in a cantilever manner to thesupporting structure of the main tent by the end of two of the ridgestruts. An overhead supporting cable is utilized between the hub of theauxiliary roof truss and the upper portion of the main supportingstructure of the tent to maintain the auxiliary roof truss in parallelrelationship with the ground.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent from the drawings and detailed description thereof following.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the supportingstructure of the present invention omitting only eave struts.

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view ofthe supporting structure of the presentinvention omitting both eave struts and selected side struts.

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the roof truss and associated cabletruss of the present invention in expanded position.

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of the roof truss of the presentinvention in collapsed position.

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of the connection between the side trussand roof truss of the present invention.

FIGURE 6 is a plan view of the main tent supporting structure andauxiliary tent supporting structure of the present invention with thetents assembled thereto.

FIGURE 7 is a side view of the main tent supporting structure andauxiliary tent supporting structure of the present invention with thetents assembled thereto, and

FIGURE 8 is a perspective view of a modification of the connectionbetween the ridge struts and side struts.

DESCRIPTION OF INVENTION Referring now to FIGURE 1, the tent supportingstructure of the present invention is shown in assembled position. Thestructure includes a plurality of ridge struts 10, which, in theembodiment of FIGURE 1, comprise five such struts. The ridge struts 10are pivotally connected at one end thereof to a common hub 11 and extenddownwardly and radially away from the common hub 11 to form a rooftruss.

The entire roof truss is supported at each of the ends of theperspective ridge struts 10 by means of triangular side trusses. Theside trusses are formed by two equal length side struts 12 which haveone end thereof in engagement with the ground and the opposite endthereof joined with the companion side strut and the end of the ridgestrut at a common point 13.

The embodiment of FIGURE 1 is characterized by the absence of eavestruts which normally extend between adjacent points 13 is structuressuch this heretofore known. In these former structures, the cave strutswere necessary to maintain the roof truss in position.

In accordance with the present invention, as shown in more detail inFIGURE 3, the roof truss is maintained rigid in the absence of such eavestruts by means of a cable truss 14 disposed in the region of the commonhub 11. The cable truss 14 includes a first cable 15 which is suspendedbetween each of the adjacent ridge struts 10. The cable 15 will permitthe ridge struts to be folded into parallel relationship one to anotherby their hinge parts 16 as shown in FIGURE 4. However, whenever theridge struts 10 are expanded away from their parallel relationship, asshown in FIGURES 1 and 3, the cable will restrict their angle ofexpansion to a predetermined angle as defined by the length of the cable15. The cable 15 will also maintain the struts 10 in proper horizontalangular relationship one to another when the struts are expanded to thelimits of the cable.

The cable truss 14 also includes a plurality of second cables 17 and anextendible compression rod 18. The extendible rod 18 is journaled withinthe hub 11 and is designed for axial sliding movoment therein. On theupper end of the rod 18 is a cable connector 19 to which all of thecables 17 are joined. The opposite ends of the cables 17 are connectedto each of the ridge struts 10 at a point substantially adjacent that atwhich the cables 15 are connected.

During assembly of the roof truss, the extendible rod 18 is pushedupwardly through the hub 11. As the upper end 19 of the rod moves abovethe hub 11, it will draw or pull the ridge struts 10 from their foldedposition as shown in FIGURE 4 to an expanded position as shown in FIGURE3. The degree of expansion thereof will be limited by the cables 15 asthey become taut. When this occurs, a lock mechanism 20 in the hub 11 isengaged to secure the rod 18 in its extended position and the cables 17will now prevent the ridge struts 10 from returning to their foldedposition. The cables 15 will likewise prevent the ridge struts 10 fromfurther expanding and will, as well, maintain them .in the properhorizontal angular relationship one to another. Thus, in the lockedposition, the roof truss is now quite rigid in all planes and thenecessity for eave struts has been eliminated.

In the embodiment shown in FIGURE 1, the tent supporting structure isshown as one having five sides and, accordingly, employs five ridgestruts and ten sidewall struts making a total of fifteen struts in all.In tent structures of this type which employ eave struts, the totalnumber of struts would be 20 in all. Accordingly, the cable truss of thepresent invention has permitted the elimination of percent of the strutsformerly found necessary.

It is possible, in accordance with the present invention, to eliminatestill further struts from the supporting structure without seriouslyweakening the structure. In this embodiment, as shown in FIGURE 2,selected ones of the ridge struts 10 are indirectly supported by meansof a special cable 21 and do not require the direct support of the sidestruts 12. The cables 21 are connected to the same cable connector 19 asbefore, however, the opposite end of the cable is connected to theparticular ridge strut in question at a point approximately of thedistance toward the unsupported end thereof. This arrangement will makethe particular unsupported ridge strut sufficiently rigid to be able tocarry the weight of the tent in the absence of the side struts 12.

In the five sided embodiment shown in FIGURE 2, it is possible tosuspend two of the five ridge struts by cables 21 and thus eliminatefour additional struts over the embodiment shown in FIGURE 1. In thisembodiment, there will then be a total elimination of nine struts fromthe total of twenty heretofore found necessary in a structure of thistype. This represents a total reduction of struts of approximately 45percent.

The details of the connection between the side struts 12 and ridgestruts 10 at the common point 13 may be seen in FIGURE 5. Each of theside struts 12 have a screw eye 22 in one end thereof. A snap ring 23 issecured in the end of the ridge strut 10 and is adapted to pass throughthe eyes of the screw eyes 22 to provide a swiveling or pivotal joint.

Pins 24 are positioned in the opposite ends of each of the side struts12 and are adapted to be pushed into the ground to anchor the sidestruts in their proper triangular truss position as shown in FIGURES 1and 2.

Whenever the entire structure has been assembled, the tent itself isthen assembled within and supported from the structure as shown inFIGURES 6 and 7. First, the lower edges of the tent are secured to theground by passing the pins 24 in the side struts through tabs on thebase of the tent. Next, the apex of the tent, as shown in FIGURE 3, issuspended from a hook 25 formed on the opposite end of the extendiblerod 18. Finally, as shown in FIGURE 5, each of the side panels of thetent are suspended from the common point 13 of the ridge struts and sidestruts by means of a book 26.

An alternate method of securing the two side struts 12 and ridge strut10 together at the common point 13 is shown in FIGURE 8. The hooks 26 onthe sides of the tent are replaced with a ring 30 likewise secured tothe tent.

Each of the side struts are modified at their upper end with flattenedand cut out portions 31. During assembly, the ring 30 is hooked over thecutout portions 31 to retain them in place.

The ridge struts 10 are also modified with flattened and concave lowerend portions 32. During assembly, the lower end portion 32 is engagedwith the cut out portions of the side struts 12 and held in place asshown in broken lines in FIGURE 8.

This alternate arrangement has special advantage in the part ofmanufacture of the ridge and side struts and, as well, permits quickerassembly of the tent structure.

An auxiliary tent supporting structure is also provided, in accordancewith the present invention, as shown in FIGURES 6 and 7. The auxiliarysupporting structure employs a roof truss substantially identical tothat employed in the embodiment of FIGURE 2, the only exception beingthat three of the roof truss cables 21 are of extended length ratherthan two, as in the case of FIG- URE '2. The auxiliary roof truss, onceexpanded as above described, is then connected, by the two ridge strutsemploying the shorter cables, to the main tent at the common point 13formed by the ridge struts and side struts.

The auxiliary roof truss, so disposed in a cantilever manner, is held inproper angular relationship with respect to the ground by means of atension cable 27 suspended between the cable connection 19 of each ofthe expandable rods 18 associated with both the auxiliary roof truss andthe main roof truss. In this arrangement, no side struts are necessaryand the tent itself may be attached to and suspended from the auxiliarytruss in a manner similar to that just described for the main tent. Thelower edges of the auxiliary tent are appropriately staked to the groundin a normal fashion. The auxiliary tent may be of a solid waterproofmaterial or it may be of a light weight mosquito netting material toprovide a dining fly.

It is also possible to utilize more than one auxiliary tent in respectto one main tent and, indeed, as many auxiliary tents could be used asthere are sides to the main tent. In the case where more than oneauxiliary tent is used, it is preferable that all of the ridge struts besupported by triangular side trusses to provide the added stability forcarrying the auxiliary tents.

The tent structure of the present invention has been described and shownin respect to a five sided structure employing equilateral triangles.However, the invention is equally applicable to a structure of anynumber of sides and is not necessarily limited to equilateral triangles.Accordingly, the present invention is not to be taken as limited by theillustrations and descriptions of particular embodiments thereof, but isto be interpreted in respect to the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a supporting frame for a tent or the like which employs adome-like roof truss formed of a plurality of ridge struts pivotallyattached to and extending radially from a common hub and joined at theiropposite ends to eave struts and which employs a side truss whichincludes at least one ground engaging side strut at the juncture of eachridge and eave strut for supporting the roof truss, the improvement insaid roof truss permitting elimination of all eave struts and selectedones of said side struts comprising;

first cable means substantially at said hub and between adjacent ridgestruts for limiting both the horizontal radial separation and verticalangle of expansion of said ridge struts one from another; and

second cable means substantially at said hub for drawing said ridgestruts into expanded position until the ridge struts draw the firstcable means taut to provide a rigid roof truss in the absence of eavestruts and a roof truss which may be supported without side struts atevery ridge strut.

2. The supporting frame of claim 1 in which said second cable meansincludes an elongated compression rod supported within the hub for axialmovement therein and having an upper end thereof extending above thehub;

tension cables extending from said upper end of said rod to each of saidridge struts; and

lock means for selectively securing said rod against axial movementwhereby, as the upper end of the rod is extended upwardly from the hub,the ridge struts will be drawn from a collapsed position to an expandedposition as limited by the first cable means and the rod may be lockedto maintain the roof truss rigid.

3. The supporting structure of claim 2 in which the cables associatedWith any unsupported ridge strut are attached to the ridge strut furtherfrom the hub than the cables associated with the supported ridge struts.

4. A roof truss for an auxiliary tent adapted to be secured to andsupported by a main tent without the use of ground engaging supportpoles for the auxiliary tent comprising;

a plurality of ridge struts pivotally attached to and extending radiallyfrom a common hub;

first cable means at said hub and interconnected between said hub andeach of said ridge struts to secure said ridge struts into a dome-likepolyhedron;

connecting means at the free ends of two adjacent ridge struts adaptedto secure said roof truss in a cantilever manner to the supportingstructure of the main tent; and

overhead cable means connected between the hub of the auxiliary rooftruss and the upper portion of the supporting structure of the main tentto maintain the roof truss in proper alignment above the ground.

5. The roof truss of claim 4 wherein said first cable means includes afirst cable substantially at the hub connected between adjacent ridgestruts for limiting both the horizontal radial separation and verticalangle of expansion of said ridge struts one from another;

an elongated rod supported within the hub for axial movement therein andhaving an upper end thereof extending above the hub;

tension cables extending between the upper end of said elongated rod andeach of the ridge struts; and

lock means for selectively securing said rod against axial movementwhereby as the upper end of the rod is moved upwardly from the hub, theridge struts will be drawn from a collapsed position to an expandedposition as limited by the first cable means and locked to maintain theridge struts in rigid disposition one to another.

6. A supporting structure for a tent or the like having one or moreindirectly supported roof elements comprising;

a central hub;

a plurality of ridge struts extending radially and downwardly from thecentral hub forming a polyhedral roof truss;

means for supporting said roof truss including two side wall struts atthe opposite end of each of se lected ones of said ridge struts, theopposite ends of said two side wall struts engaging the ground inspaced-apart relationship forming a triangular sidewall truss;

first cable means at the apex of the roof truss between unsupprotedridge struts and adjacent supported ridge struts for maintaining theunsupported ridge struts in a proper horizontal angular relationship tothe supported ridge struts; and

second cable means between the central hub and the unsupported ridgestruts for maintaining the unsupported ridge struts in proper verticalangular relationship to the supported ridge struts.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 14,655 4/1856 Hartwell -8 49,6058/1865 Clark 135-4 538,093 4/1895 Weston 135-5 1,853,367 4/1932 Mace135-4 2,113,118 4/1938 Pyatt 135-4 2,530,765 11/1950 Greenup 135-43,059,658 10/1962 Finlayson 135-4 PETER M. CAUN, Primary Examiner UNITEDSTATES PAITENT L'OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,502,091

John R. Corbin It is certified that error appears in the aboveidentified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected asshown below:

In the heading to the printed specification, lines 3 to S, "John R.Corbin, Cherry Hill, N. J., assignor to Wendel V. Goltermann,Reutlinger, Wurttemberg, Germany, a corporation of Germany" should readJohn R. Corbin, 404 Gorwood Drive, Cherry Hill, N. J. 08034 Signed andsealed this 15th day of December 1970 (SEAL) Attest:

WILLIAM E. SCHUYLER, JR.

Commissioner of Patents Edward M. Fletcher, It.

Attesting Officer March 24, 1970

